Economics

Hong Kong Rents Set to Fall as Protests Curb Housing Demand

  • Residential rents projected to decline 2%, survey finds
  • City is the most expensive in the world to rent an apartment
Riot police deploy tear gas during a protest on Aug. 11.Photographer: Kyle Lam/Bloomberg
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Hong Kong housing rents are set to decline as anti-government protests continue to rock the city.

Real estate professionals forecast rents on Hong Kong’s main island, home to the central business district, will fall 2% in the next year, according to a survey conducted by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors released Thursday. That’s a reversal from the 3% gain forecast in the previous survey, which was held just as the large-scale protests started in June.